Darcy Regier

March 18, 2013

Vanek*, Hodgson, Ott, Foligno. At this point, these are the only players I really care about being on the Sabres roster after this season.

Thomas Vanek gets an asterisk because, given his current trade value, he could probably command a first round pick, a top prospect, and a roster player from a top Cup contender at this year's trade deadline. So while I'd love to build around Vanek over the next five years, it would probably be stupid not to trade him now, especially when you have to believe he'll be leaving as a UFA after next season.

If Darcy Regier has already offered Vanek an extension based on this year's performance and he's turned it down, Regier in no uncertain terms should trade him at the deadline. Therefore, given the fact that Vanek hasn't signed an extension, I would think it logical to conclude that either a) Regier hasn't offered one (which is grounds for dismissal), or b) Vanek has refused it (which is grounds for a trade).

So here's the real deal: If I'm GM of the Sabres and Thomas Vanek is no longer on my team, I'm almost by definition in full rebuild mode. Therefore, considering Regier told The Buffalo News just last week that he's "﻿not in a blow-it-up mind-set," I think this is all you need to know to realize he really has to be the next guy out the door. As in, prior to free agency.

I don't arrive at this conclusion lightly. Click on the "Darcy Regier" category on the right sidebar, and you'll find that I've been plenty conciliatory towards the GM over the past year or so. Critical? Of course. But because, for example, it's largely pointless to complain about a GM's inability to retain players who decide to leave via free agency, it's instead better to judge him by the acquisitions he makes.

Remember, in one calendar year Regier added Christian Ehrhoff, Ville Leino, Robyn Regehr, and Cody Hodgson. In hindsight it might be easy to find fault with at least some of these moves, but it would be disingenuous to argue that they didn't look attractive at the time. He followed this by unloading everybody's favorite whipping boy, Derek Roy, in order to acquire Steve Ott. Considering Ott is one of the only players on the entire team willing to lay it on the line every game, g'head and argue that this was a bad move.

So like any other GM in the history of sports, Darcy Regier has made bad moves and good moves. Over the years my biggest critique of his has always been his absolute loyalty to Lindy Ruff. I believe this unwillingness even to consider making a coaching change no matter what flies in the face of what it takes to be a GM in the first place. I think it prevented him from recognizing his team's generally soft play and what at least seemed to be the players' propensity to tune out its coach for extended stretches over multiple seasons.

Indeed, I thought Regier and Lindy Ruff both should've been fired five years ago, but because it became clear that this just wasn't going to happen, I guess I just began to accept reality and make the best of the situation. Still, while Regier obviously took responsibility for firing Ruff last month, I highly doubt this decision was made in isolation. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if ownership initiated the decision and gave Regier his marching orders.

And herein lies the rub. Despite Regier's efforts the past couple seasons to put together a talented roster -- it's hard to argue this team shouldn't be performing much better than it is -- the Buffalo Sabres organization has been exposed as hopelessly reactive, one lacking a vision of what it takes to be a winner. This became plainly evident in the release of Lindy Ruff, who was in no uncertain terms fired by the fans, not by a proactive management group.

In short, if leadership truly believed Ruff had overstayed his welcome, he would've been fired well before the team finally feared that fans would stop showing up for games. (Alternatively, if Pegula and Co. actually believed Ruff was their guy, the right move would've been to retain him and attempt to improve in other areas.)

If the Sabres former coach had been almost anyone other than Lindy Ruff, this little sop to the fans probably would've passed without much fanfare. But when you're talking about a guy who coached the team for 16 years, you're left wondering why the ownership team, now in its third season with the club, retained him as long as it did if it didn't believe he was the best man for the job.

I reiterate, I was not disappointed in the least that the Sabres organization decided to make a coaching change. Sometimes the best coaches lose their teams, and it appeared this was the case in Buffalo. However, this move looked less like a team reluctantly doing what it had to do and more like a flailing organization making a desperate attempt to do something -- anything -- to effect positive change.

But reality eventually catches up to you. And it appears that the reality in the Sabres front office is that, despite the lofty rhetoric about bringing Stanley Cups to Buffalo, management doesn't have a very effective game plan for winning.

Right now it almost seems that the Sabres are not just failing to make the right decisions, but they're doing the exact opposite of what they should be doing.

You can't blame a professional sports franchise for playing its best players, even sometimes to a fault, when it becomes clear that wins are less important than seeing what your team's made of. But that doesn't necessarily mean the team's making the right decision. We saw this very thing begin to unfold last week when Mikhail Grigorenko was sent back to his junior squad and T.J. Brennan was given away for almost nothing (a fifth round pick).

(Pretty soon you're going to tell me the Sabres are going to hang onto Ryan Miller for another year and let him leave for nothing after throwing Pat Kaleta under the bus!)

The Sabres are finished for the year, if for no other reason than the fact that teams are playing only within their conference this season -- meaning that everyone above them in the standings (everyone but Florida at the moment) is going to continue to get points every night. So why not give Grigorenko the chance to play with the best forwards on the team and see what he can do in that role? Despite what Regier's trying to sell, he's not going to learn anything new in juniors.

Regier's rationale for trading Brennan was that he would be claimed off waivers, as evidenced by Florida's willingness to spend a pick for him. Fair enough, but as Bucky Gleason wrote the other day, he's only 23 -- though he played fairly poorly, he's very young for a defenseman and they often need a few years to develop, so he should've at least been playing out the remainder of this failed campaign so the Sabres really got the look at him both sides deserved.

On the other hand, I'm not the GM. If Regier isn't planning to re-sign Brennan next season, then you get what you can get for him now instead of getting nothing down the road. Just seems this kid has enough potential in his shot and skating ability that he could've at least been packaged as part of some bigger trades.

Which leads to my biggest concern. If things just aren't working as currently constructed, why even give Darcy the authority to make decisions on whether to rebuild or not as we run up to free agency? Why let him determine whether to trade Miller, Vanek, and/or Pominville in the first place? Why not just clean house, for better or worse, and start the heck over? After all, you can't get much worse than 29th.

Assuming the likelihood of Regier's departure prior to the trade deadline exceedingly slim, I think we can reliably judge Regier's competence by analyzing the rather simple Thomas Vanek Effect: If Vanek either does not sign an extension or depart via trade by the 2013 NHL free agent deadline, Darcy Regier should be fired immediately.

This would be one of those situations where the "management team" needs to know the deal in advance. Because if Darcy doesn't understand this very simple concept, he is the last person you need manning the phones on deadline day.

February 20, 2013

SABRES FIRE LINDY RUFF!
But before you get too excited, TSN just announced that James Patrick will serve as interim coach. Maybe this is because this was a spur of the moment decision, but nothing will change as long as they retain the SAME SYSTEM they've been under for years.
For now I'm happy Ruff is gone. Now let's see if Buffalo can actually shake it up for real like they need to.

January 20, 2013

So, let's recap. When last we saw our heroes, the season had just ended with most Sabres fans hating the team, hating the coach, hating the GM, hating the president, and the love affair with shiny new owner T-Pegs in serious jeopardy. For a very large part of the season, Ryan Miller played awfully poor hockey, as did the team in front of him. Lazy and sloppy were the watchwords of the season. The team showed very little passion.

Then, somewhere in late January or early February, when it was almost too late, something happened. I envision it being a lot like the scene in Christmas Vacation where Beverly D'Angelo goes into the garage, flips on a light switch hidden behind the freezer on a whim, and blinds the entire neighborhood with the brilliance of Chevy Chase's Christmas lighting display. The Sabres, in much the same way, fumbled around in the dark before flipping a switch that blinded the NHL with their brilliance. Suddenly, down was up, left was right, darkness was blinding light, and the Sabres put together a stretch that got them to within a couple points of the playoffs after being dead last in the Eastern Conference.

Although out of the playoffs, fans were left with some slight optimism that some changes would be made and the team would come back to pick up where they left off. Then a couple of key aquisitions were made, John Scott and Steve Ott being the biggest. And somewhere along the way, Darcy drafted well. And there was hope. And then came the lockout.

I'm not going to get into my thoughts on the lockout, or how it's absurd for players to think a business can stay viable when putting 57% of its revenue to labor. Suffice to say I was squarely with the owners this time. What I will say is the lockout left me bummed out about the lack of a season. It left me not really caring much about the players or what was happening, or if there would even be a season. At the very least we should have all been blogging once the lockout ended but, as recently as this morning, I was feeling very ambivalent towards the whole thing.

Then I watched the season opener.

I've been a fan of Buffalo sports teams long enough to know not to get my hopes up this early in a season. Things can, and often do, go horribly awry with our teams. But I have to say, I was very pleasantly surprised today. With only a few changes, this appears to be a completely different team from last year's train wreck. It's obvious that the Sabres finally got tired of being the laughingstock of the NHL. If the Sabres are looking to change their image, they went a long way towards doing so today. Which brings me to the topic of this post... swagger!

This team had swagger today! Not the swagger of the new kid at school who acts tough but is terrified on the inside that everyone will find out he watches Glee and drinks chai tea. They had the attitude of a team that has strength behind it, and that strength came from Steve Ott. I'll admit, I only knew a little about Ott when the Sabres traded for him, and most of it was from Googling his highlight reels. After today's performance, I'd say he's going to be a nice addition to the team. He made the entire team tougher just by his presence. Marcus Foligno, no prima donna himself, played like a beast in the presence of Ott. And Drew Stafford throwing down with Hartnell doesn't happen without Ott and Scott on the roster this year to watch his back.

I said last season that I don't care about losing games if the team is giving 100%. While sloppy at times, this team let it all hang out. And I loved every minute of it. A perfect example was Cody Hodgson's goal in the 3rd period. Vanek skates in, shoots, and Hodgson comes screaming in from the parking lot to jam home the rebound. Another example is that not once but twice, Sabres players hustled to beat out icing calls and keep plays going. There isn't a single player on the team who would have put that kind of effort in last season.

And while I'm on the topic of Vanek, five points in one game? Craziness! Congratulations to him on a huge day.

Again, I'm going to be cautiously optimistic because I'm tired of getting my hopes up only to see them dashed, but today was a great start. As I said in this post a year ago, almost to the day, the Sabres needed a heart transplant to turn things around. I'd say they got it with Steve Ott, along with a healthy dose of swagger.

April 19, 2012

Since Trevor and Jon already gave their "season over" posts, I figured that I wouldn't bother giving my take on it. I convinced myself that it would have just been redundant, having no choice but to repeat most of the things they already said.

But since then, there has been plenty of news surrounding the Buffalo Sabres. And honestly, I still found myself not really wanting to write about them, but the more I sat and thought about it the less I could help myself.

If you're not aware of what the numbers above indicate, I'll give you a clue: The three and the five relate to how many times the Sabres have missed the playoffs, and the five and the ten explain out of how many years it took to reach those previous numbers, respectively.

So which ones look better to you? The smaller numbers or the bigger numbers? Either way you choose to look at it, both sets of numbers say the exact same thing: Every five years the Sabres only make the playoffs twice. But if you read Darcy Regier's latest comments, he's optimistic because they've actually made the playoffs twice in the last three years. Holy-splitting-fucking-hairs. So we'll just forget that in those two playoff appearances, his team was given the grand honor only eight teams per season get to share: a first round exit. [golf clap]

I guess we can look at the bright side about the last decade as we officially can't say this team's play is completely inconsistent anymore. [yawn]

One thing we can say is the what most of the Buffalo media has already taken care of: How can this team finish such a high-expectation yet disappointing season without explaining themselves in an end-of-season press conference?

Lindy Ruff had already taken care of his guys during their final practice of the season. He berated his players twice -- before and after their longest (and most pointless) workout of the season -- pointing out missteps and errors that ultimately cost them a berth into the playoffs. He singled out veterans for lack of leadership and production but applauded some of the younger players for stepping up and helping their late push.

After this information hit the Buffalo News, some fans that commented were enraged that Ruff spent so much time criticizing his own guys while not taking any time to put some of the blame upon himself.

I definitely understood where these fans were coming from but I felt differently. While I hardly think the perfect time to call out players is in a meaningless practice succeeding the game that found you eliminated from the playoffs, Ruff is still entitled to handling his players as he sees fit. Would it maybe have been a little more beneficial to take this action before the season spun completely out of control? Sometime in December, perhaps? Of course, but nonetheless Ruff was well within his rights. He doesn't answer to his players; he's their boss.

Granted, when I was thinking this at the time, I was expecting that Ruff would have to answer the tough questions from 1) his boss(es) and 2) the media -- with some of these questions taking place in the setting of a press conference.

But the answer was nay to both. I guess we all know now that it doesn't go down that way in Buffalo these days. By the Sabres organization letting Lindy Ruff and Darcy Regier cover their faces with their sport coats and run off to their limousines while dogging hordes of pocket recorders and notepads, it gave me the proof that these two men are untouchable; that they basically answer to no one.

It's a funny feeling as a fan when you know there could be a possibility of great upside if a change was made, but with every new failed season, you still retain a certain fear and somehow know in the back of your head that nothing will ever change. Well not ever, I guess; everybody dies eventually. But still, it's a slap in the face of the fans who pay money to watch this charade -- I know, I know, there are strangely still just as many R&R supporters as there are haters. I'm still working on understanding that one.

But for people like me who figure things won't change (yet still reserve that place in my brain where I hope that I might be wrong someday) feel even more disrespected [enraged] when that fucktard Ted Black rushes out to WGR three days after the season ends so he can announce his unchanged faith in Ruff and Regier.

I mean, couldn't you at least wait a month and fool us into thinking that you looked long and hard for their replacements but couldn't find any suitable prospects? Believe me, I probably wouldn't have bought that either, but it would still beat listening to Black's pompous/cunty -- I'm smarter and better than everyone -- explanation behind announcing the inevitable so quickly.

It leaves me little hope that there will be any success in the near future. I almost want to go out on a limb and say this team won't win anything substantial (even a division title) until they get yet another owner.

Remember, Pegula once said that his daughter would quit playing tennis if she were under the same scrutiny as the Buffalo Sabres are at times. Obviously this belief has trickled down on how he treats his coaching staff, management, and players altogether. And Ruff and Regier's names might as well be Jessie and Kellie, because they now have a boss that is just as comfortable pampering them as if they were his own daughters. This belief has undoubtedly been reflected onto everyone from the top down. And I don't know about anyone else, but common sense would say that this very belief will hold the Sabres back from ever reaching the highest level in one of the most intense professional sports.

So it's a good thing that tennis and hockey don't have too much in common. Because if Pegula really wants to deliver on his initial promise, eventually he'll most likely be forced into changing his outlook on criticism first. And only time will uncover if he'll actually ever be open to that idea.

But currently at least, it doesn't appear to be the end of the world to some fans, but one day even the most loyal Ruff, Regier, Black, and/or Pegula supporters will find themselves turning on one, two or all of them. Patience only lasts so long, and I don't know many people patient enough to wait through another decade of only making the playoffs 40% of the time.

And if your mind works anything like mine does; where a first round exit isn't even noteworthy of making it, you can go ahead and lower that number to 20%.

March 20, 2012

Well I suppose it should figure. The Sabres finally thump an opponent and can't move up in the standings. Going into last night's games Buffalo was only two points out of eighth behind the Caps, who were playing the otherwise reliable Red Wings. But as luck would have it, Washington breezed past Detroit 5-3 while the Sabres smacked the Lightning 7-3.

This is why it's so hard to close even a two-point gap down the stretch. It's hard enough to compel the hockey gods to smile on you while you pray for teams to lose after you flop in OT; it's even harder to expect them to come through when you win and stand to gain ground.

I figured Buffalo's season was pretty much over after they coughed up two big points during back-to-back overtime losses against Colorado and Florida, so you have to give them credit for a big win that at least allowed them to keep pace with the Caps. However, there is almost no room for error in a homestretch that features games against the Rangers, Caps, Penguins, Flyers, and Bruins.

Yikes.

Given the remainder of Buffalo's schedule, I'm not sure it would've even mattered if Buffalo had been able to move into a tie for eighth last night. In a perverse sort of way, I think this makes the rest of the games easier to watch since I'm not expecting them to make the playoffs. Less stressful and all that.

﻿Come to think of it, you know what? I'm not sure I actually want them to make it. I love watching hockey and I prefer to watch my team whenever possible, but I think failing to make the playoffs will be better for the team in the long run.

I think we've concluded that Darcy is going nowhere, so I'm wondering if a failed season wouldn't encourage Regier to be even more aggressive in the offseason than he's already planning to be. After all, squeaking into the playoffs would seem to lend even more validation to the idea that the big prize was ours for the taking if not for all the injuries. As I've said in the past, injuries obviously contributed to plenty of losses, but any good, hardworking team with leadership and depth shouldn't fall into the abyss because of them, either.

Regardless of how things shake out the rest of the way, there have been some very nice developments this season for the Sabres:

- I think Tyler Ennis's games lost to high ankle sprains were a lot more detrimental than most people originally thought, and it's pretty clear he needs to play center.

- Paul Gaustad's loss was really not much of a loss at all, and I can't wait to see how Regier parlays the first round pick he got from Nashville in return.

- After at least three seasons of keeping us wondering, Andrej Sekera has finally turned into the reliable defensemen most were expecting. He logs a lot of minutes, has started to limit turnovers, runs the power play and, most importantly, has gained enough confidence to realize he belongs. Instead of demonstrating bursts of potential, he's started to play consistently well on a nightly basis. That's all you can really ask.

- Brayden McNabb is already a stud. His addition to the regular roster will immediately improve the D next season and likely make another top six defenseman expendable for use as trade bait in order to bolster other areas of the roster or add more depth to the organization.

- Holy Marcus Foligno. Where did this guy come from? This could all just be beginner's luck, but at only 20 years of age Foligno has been among the most dominant players on the ice for the Sabres the past week or so. I think we're starting to see why Regier was so comfortable trading Zack Kassian for Cody Hodgson.

- Speaking of Hodgson, who just turned 22, he should become a pivotal piece to the Sabres puzzle in the near future. Fundamentally sound and possessing what appears to be a good work ethic, he kind of resembles a young Chris Drury. He's probably not going to put up 30 goals a year, but it can't be easy getting traded to a new team with only a quarter of the season remaining, yet he already appears to be very comfortable at center and communicating with his new teammates. I don't know if this trade will end up being Briere for Gratton, but it could honestly be close.

- But back to Foligno. This kid deserves a little more elaboration. At 6-3 and over 220 pounds, Foligno is a force. He's just as strong on the puck as Kassian is and appears to have an even better knack for the net. Now here's something I've always wondered if I'd ever write on a Sabres blog. Back when Kassian was first brought up I googled some of his hockey fights. I can't remember who he was fighting, but I recall that it was a guy who was older and who'd spent considerable time in the NHL. Kassian mostly wrestled him to a draw, but in the background of the video was Marcus Foligno pummeling another player pretty handily. It's funny now to recall that, at that time, I thought the person who posted the video might have been focusing on the wrong guy.

This sounds a little pretentious to say now that Kassian's been traded, but I wondered more than a few times since training camp -- Erik can corroborate this -- whether he was a little overhyped. I also wondered if the Sabres organization was always a little concerned about his reputation, given that he's been arrested for a bar fight and suspended a couple different times for borderline dirty hits before he got to the NHL. Granted, this is all speculation, but I guess I'm just saying that if the Sabres were at all concerned about any of this stuff over the past couple years, Marcus Foligno probably made their decision about Kassian pretty easy.

I can't believe I'm going to say this because it's probably way too early and I'll end up looking like a moron, but if I had to pick one player that Marcus Foligno resembles, I'd have to say Jordan Staal. Foligno isn't a center, of course, but he (by all accounts at present, at least) is strong on the puck, very responsible defensively, and unafraid to get his nose dirty in front of the net (which, as we've already seen, tends to result in goals).

At the start of the year, I don't think the Sabres figured that Foligno would be playing such a big role down the stretch. But at the same time, I don't think they figured they'd be fighting just to make the playoffs, either. I doubt as well that they thought Ville Leino would struggle so much and that Derek Roy, Drew Stafford, and Ryan Miller would have off-years.

However, if this season has revealed anything, it's that this team right at this moment has a very nice mixture of veteran leadership and reliable young talent, both of which are imperative to success and eventual championships. It's also interesting to note that Tyler Myers and Tyler Ennis, two cornerstones to the Sabres' future who are closer to being veteran leaders than rookies, are still only 22.

If Regier can pick up Ryan Getzlaf during the offseason and this team can learn to play with some emotion and grit from the first game to the last, the future is now.

March 01, 2012

"No matter what the people think about Darcy Regier, he is three or four steps ahead of everything. He's really a smart guy."

"He knows full well what he can do this summer. He understands what he can do by giving up one of those draft choices."

Those words came right from Mike Robitaille's mouth yesterday on the Howard Simon Show. If true, we as Sabres fans will have no reason not to be left feeling all warm and fuzzy inside by early July.

Trevor pointed out this very sentiment yesterday in his plea for Ryan Getzlaf. After watching that game last night, you can understand his desire for such a player. And for any of you who continue to mourn the loss of Paul Gaustad throughout the rest of the season, the simple acquisition of Ryan Getzlaf this off-season would make you forget that Goose was ever on the team. Getzlaf is Gaustad times 10. Getzlaf is perfect (with the exception of severe baldness at the young age of 26, of course). But I digress.

I'm hoping Roby's knowledge and observations of Regier are accurate, and aren't just one more thing we all read too much into; something that gives us more false hope. You'd figure Robitaille would be more clued in to the these situations than the average fan or blogger, right?

So I'm going to go out on a limb and feel good about this one. More often than not, Robitaille knows what he's talking about -- he doesn't always us the best grammar or analogies to get his various points across -- but he knows his shit. And If he didn't feel confident about it, he seems like the kind of guy that wouldn't say it at all.

With that said, I'm prepared to give Darcy one more shot. I think he realizes now that you can't build a successful team from within over a four or five year period in today's NHL. Realistically, he doesn't even have to anymore (he gots da money!). But maybe his experiences having to do that for so many years will eventually pay off and he'll be able to use it to his advantage. Maybe this new ownership does provide the keys that will eventually allow him to succeed to the point he never has before.

I know, after many of the opinions I've shared about Regier in the past, this sudden optimism probably sounds a little funny coming from me. Trust me though, I would happily be the first person to admit that I was wrong if Regier actually brings home a Stanley Cup.

But don't be completely misled by my previous statements, I'm not crowning him yet. Darcy still has a ways to go. He needs to allow himself to work on and refine some of his other less than appealing characteristics, too. But if he can grow enough to further mold himself into the GM he ultimately should be, our high hopes could easily come that much closer to reality one day.

And I'll be the first one to grab a pen and paper to hand write my apology to him.

February 29, 2012

All the suspicions and questions ever had about the Sabres being more of a "friends and family" network rather than a competitive hockey team were all but answered last night. Upon reading Ryan Miller's comments in John Vogl's new article, I don't see how anyone could think differently.

"It was a pretty tough day," Miller said Tuesday. "I'm not going to lie. I'm not real happy about the way it all turned out, but that's the business of hockey."

"We don't make those decisions. That's more proof because if I had any more influence, Paul would still be here."

These comments alone provide enough evidence for me to believe the Sabres' core has grown too comfortable and is in desperate need of a shake-up. Obviously some of these guys were more worried about their own friendships than winning hockey games -- not too hard to see with only a glance at their current record.

Now, what Miller said during this interview wasn't too far from Jason Pominville's comments when he said, "It was a little bit of a tough day but we can all understand the circumstances." It was the way he said it and underlying criticism that stood out.

Everyone has a right to express his own opinions, but Miller overstepped his boundaries with some of his yesterday (emphasis mine).

"No matter the way you view hockey, you have to understand how important players like Paul can be and how long it takes to develop a guy that plays that way at such a high level. Winning those faceoffs is not easy. Killing those penalties is not easy. Not a lot of guys are willing to do that job every night, and he was."

Not only did Miller slap Darcy Regier in the face with the first comments I posted, but the comment directly above gives an indication of how he views the rest of the team as well. Comments proving that Miller is just as selfish (perhaps more so) and bullheaded as many have accused him of being over the years.

It kind of makes you think Trevor was right when he alluded to Miller's teammates not liking him. If they did, they would have done a better job sticking up for him after Lucic emasculated him (remember, one of the guys who failed to defend him that day was his BFF Paul Gaustad). I'm not going to dig deeper into the Miller/Goose friendship because I honestly don't care about their relationship. But let's be real here and get back to the point: If Miller is going to go out in the media with stupid comments like these, what do you think he says to these guys behind closed doors?

Big ups to Trevor for decoding that one way back in November.

As far as Darcy goes, I don't know where he stands on Miller's thoughts. But I'm pretty sure GMs don't like being second guessed by their own players. Even with the amount of doubt we've had surrounding Regier over the years, I understand that he's not going anywhere for a while so I'll just have to hope he does a decent job while he's here. You would think that this thought process would apply even more so to his players.

Which makes me wonder what he'll do with Miller come the off-season. I sometimes think the Sabres have kept Miller around because he brings attention to the city and the team. Outside of one or two really good years he hasn't held up to that standard lately, and his image of "best goalie in the world" has long since faded.

So here's your chance, Darcy. Get rid of him as soon as possible (July 1st) before his attitude and play alike smolder even further. You don't want to put yourself in the same situation you did when you traded Hasek, do you?

At this point, even if Darcy couldn't get much in return for Miller I wouldn't give too much of a shit. I just want his crybaby ego outta here. I'm not saying that Miller is the only reason for the Sabres' failures over the last couple seasons -- just read any post prior to this one -- but his narcissism and narrow-mindedness haven't helped. He doesn't appear to be any different than Terrell Owens or Chad Johnson.

Now that the 2012 NHL trade deadline is in the rearview, it's worth noting that Darcy Regier and the Buffalo Sabres were part of the biggest trade of the day, leading headlines just as they did last summer by the end of the free agent frenzy.

I don't know if this means the Sabres are any closer to competing for a Cup than they thought they were back in July, but I do know one thing: Darcy Regier will not be getting fired any time soon. Like it or not, I can't imagine ownership would've given Regier the right to do anything more than open up cap space at Monday's deadline if they were anywhere close to terminating their relationship with him.

In less than one calendar year, GMDR has added Robyn Regehr, Christian Ehrhoff, Ville Leino, and Cody Hodgson to his roster via trade or free agency. On paper, that certainly doesn't look like he's not trying to build a winner. With the move for Hodgson on Monday, I'm inclined to believe Regier attempted to land a center over the summer but failed to find a deal he liked. That's cool with me as long as he realizes he still needs to add another one. After all, Lindy Ruff has already said he might move natural center Tyler Ennis back to the wing with the arrival of Hodgson. (I know, your guess is as good as mine.)

One has to wonder why it took Ruff the better part of three seasons before putting Ennis at center on a team short on pivots, but it looks like Ennis has finally found his niche. So assuming that's where he stays, your top three centers are Derek Roy, Hodgson, and Ennis. Two problems here: 1) Roy's attitude and work ethic notwithstanding, I don't think he's the man to lead you to the promised land, and 2) Hodgson's the tallest at 6 feet even. Yes, Luke Adam is almost certainly going to be ready for full time duty next year, but he thrived with Vanek and Pominville earlier this season because he played with Vanek and Pominville, not because he's a first line center.

So it seems there are some good things in the cards. At least I hope there are. I hope the acquisition of Hodgson is an indicator that Regier is preparing for life without Derek Roy next year. If not, allow me to at least make a rather effortless case for this scenario.

Thanks to the Gaustad trade and the larceny that was Chris Butler/Paul Byron to Calgary for Regehr and a 2012 second round pick last summer (you knew at the time Ales Kotalik didn't count), the Buffalo Sabres now have two first round draft picks and two second round picks this summer. Trade for Ryan Getzlaf.

See, wasn't that easy?

No GM in his right mind would trade Getzlaf straight up for a first round pick, but you could probably at least get Bob Murray's attention by offering a first and second. This probably still wouldn't be enough, mind you, so at that point you throw in Derek Roy. Or, to take an alternate approach, offer a first rounder and Roy and expect to have to toss in the second round pick. (On second thought, probably better to start with the latter; the Ducks will probably want a center in return, and depending on the situation out in Anaheim, maybe you pull this off without having to spend the second rounder at all.) Either way, it gets the job done.

With only one year remaining on Getzlaf's contract after this season, the Sabres absorb the vast majority of the risk considering Getzlaf could walk after next season. Not to mention, he's having an atrocious year by his standards, with eight goals and 35 assists in 63 games at the time of this writing, so Murray would almost have to jump all over this type of offer knowing he might only have Getzlaf for another year anyway.

While most pundits would probably consider this trade a gross overpayment on the part of the Sabres, consider the upside for Buffalo. They get one of the NHL's premier centers (besides Crosby and Malkin, who's even close over the past five seasons?); he's big and actually likes to scrap; Vanek would have 50 goals next season; it'd be the best pickup since Pat LaFontaine; and you don't have Derek Roy anymore.

For the record, if Murray wants Adam instead of Roy, you do it. Trade Roy for a pick.

Granted, this could all backfire as Getzlaf would have to give up Southern Cali blondes and ... well, that right there would be enough to ruin my life and work production. And Buffalo could potentially be giving up a couple future studs by spending a first and second round pick for one guy. But when you consider the likelihood that at least one of the first rounders wouldn't pan out anyway -- do Marek Zagrapan, Dennis Persson, and Artem Kryukov ring any bells? -- look at this as a guarantee that at least one of them would in 2012.

February 27, 2012

At long last, the NHL trade deadline is upon us, with teams getting one final crack at adjusting their rosters prior to the offseason. Interestingly, I actually agree with Bucky Gleason today. For the most part, he writes, Darcy Regier should keep his hands off the phones; he's the first change that needs to be made.

As I argued last week, Regier is not the right man for the job and as such should not be trusted to make decisions about the future. That's easy for me to say, of course, as ownership almost certainly doesn't share my sentiment. But the best we can probably hope for today is for Darcy to dump the salaries of forthcoming UFAs and open cap space for the summer.

I'm cautiously optimistic that GMDR at least understands this much, as he commented over the weekend that he's willing to (arguably) weaken his roster for the rest of the season if it means improving in the future. It's a shame that Jochen Hecht is injured because the team could really stand to get his $3.5 million off the books, but I think that's the primary reason Brad Boyes has been held out of the lineup the past two games. The only thing worse than his production this year would be failing to be able to dump his $4 million today.

We'll see how it goes. Comments are open to anyone and everyone to discuss today's wheelings and dealings. Have at it.

UPDATE: Wow. Say what you will about Darcy Regier - and we say plenty - but if nothing else, he pulled out his balls when he traded Zack Kassian to Vancouver for Cody Hodgson. On one hand, there aren't many guys I'd hate to lose more than Kassian; on the other, you have to be willing to give up value to get value. And on this Sabres squad, I'm betting there aren't a lot of players holding much value on the open market right now.

GMDR was able to unload Paul Gaustad and a fourth rounder for a first round pick from Nashville. That has win written all over it, essentially because Goose will likely be moving on this summer anyhow. That said, I'm still unsure how I feel about Kassian for Hodgson. By all accounts out of Vancouver, this trade came as a shock -- the Canucks just gave up a promising rookie with 16 goals in order to acquire some size for the Cup run -- so I'm sure the sentiment among their fans is pretty similar to ours, too.

Regier is already getting it from both sides of the fan base for this trade (I'm not interested in the Gragnani for Sulzman aspect of the trade just yet). But this is hardly Boyes for a second round pick. If you've always wanted Darcy to "do more" on deadline day, well, he just did. If you're of the opinion that he should've unloaded some salary and stood pat as he awaited his walking papers, you may not be too happy.

In a nutshell, we as fans have to realize that ownership may have no plans to replace Regier, much less Ruff. So no matter how much we may want both of them to be gone by next season, they may very well still be in place. (Want to know where I'd put my money?) So in that regard, Regier just addressed his need for a solid center. It came at the expense of much-needed grit on his own roster, but this job is one of tradeoffs.

The million dollar question is whether this team should be built around its coach, or whether the coach should be expected to work with the best collection of players possible. That's a big decision, given that retaining the wrong coach has vastly more dire implications than retaining one wrong player. If I had to guess, however, I'd have to say there's almost no question Regier operates around the former.

I know we'll all have opinions on this going forward, so for now I'll leave you with a quote from Zack Kassian today: "I'm very excited to go and contend for a Cup now."

As I watched the game versus the Rangers last night, I was a bit under the influence (duh?). Being caught in the blurriness of alcohol, I let my imagination start to run wild.

I actually let myself day dream to the point where I was asking myself, "Where will I stand if the Sabres actually make it to the playoffs?" Just observing how they've played as of late, it's starting to seem like it's not as far of a reach as it once was.

Just like Trevor, I've spent the past few weeks rooting against my favorite team. I figured if they would drop far enough out of contention, significant changes would be the next thing to come. Obviously Lindy and Darcy's jobs are safe for eternity, so I've been at least hoping for a shake-up on the ice.

It's gotten to the point where my desire to see them lose has actually been scaring me a little. I've never cheered for the other team before, never. Through good times and bad, I've always been on the side of my beloved Sabres.

I thought, "If the Sabres somehow went deep into the playoffs, how would I just turn down the hate meter?" I'm obviously a true fan at heart, but I haven't felt like one lately. I've legitimately hated these guys (or at least how they've been coached and managed).

To be completely realistic though, I don't think it's anything I'm going to have to seriously worry about any time soon. This team is still missing vital pieces to a Stanley Cup puzzle. Although Miller has played exceptional as of late and Ennis has helped fill the void at center for the moment, they still don't possess the scoring and toughness that's needed to make it four rounds in professional sport's hardest tournament.

So now that I've brought myself back down to Earth, I'm still pissed that the Sabres have been winning so much lately. Why? Because winning now doesn't get you in the draft lottery. Winning now doesn't force the overdue firings of both GM and coach. In Buffalo, winning now just sustains the hell we've already suffered.

This team is so screwed up, I wouldn't be surprised if last night was yet another example of such sustainment. Even though the Sabres suffered a loss in overtime last night, simply escaping MSG with a point was a victory for a team who couldn't buy that point two months ago. A point that surely kept hopes high not only in the locker room, but one would assume in the eyes of management as well.

With the deadline hitting mid-day tomorrow, I can honestly tell you that I'm little more than disappointed. All I wanted was Darcy to feel some sort of pressure. I was hoping he would need to approach the most anticipated day of the season with the idea of, "If I don't it a home run today, it will cost me my job."

Thanks to the recent play of his team, he literally doesn't have to do anything.

And due to the ignorance running through the veins of the ownership department, I would assume that they are comfortable thinking they were right when they decided to buy the injury excuse.

Stafford scored last night, let's keep him, he's so worth it! Roy back checked twice, he's a changed man! A real leader! Miller is the best goalie in the world again! This team is PERFECT!

Trust me, I wouldn't be surprised at all if that was the outlook from Darcy and more importantly, Terry Pegula.

Why do I think that? Why wouldn't I?!

All this team had to do was lose 3 out of their last 4 games. By winning 3, the status quo will be upheld; zero moves (or at least nothing significant) will be made at the deadline -- Darcy thinks his shit players are worth gold anyway; and this team will be primed and ready to sell another excuse when they just miss the playoffs or get dumped in the first round.

This team will continue to refuse to learn from hindsight and scramble to find their spectacles when it comes to having any foresight.

Of course, there's always the possibility that I'll be wrong. But seeing how Darcy has mismanaged his team on this day in most other years (except stealing Briere from Phoenix, of course), prepare yourself. Because there is a great possibility you'll be watching the same team after the deadline that continuously let you down before it. Only now, you'll be hoping that same team can not only make the playoffs, but somehow find a way to succeed if they happen to get there.

February 21, 2012

Just when I write that the Sabres have at least dispensed with the delusional statement, "We still believe," Lindy Ruff goes and says he still believes his team can make the playoffs.

Well, bully for us. We go from talks of winning it all to another first-round smackdown. Apparently that's the definition of success in Buffalo.

Thanks to the easy lay that was the Pittsburgh Penguins Sunday afternoon, my simple hope that the Sabres would limp to the trade deadline to make Darcy Regier's job as uncomplicated as possible next Monday has already evaporated. I mean, even a team with four Drew Staffords would be able to dismantle an Islanders club that was embarrassed yesterday by the Sens 6-0, so I'm not expecting any miracles tonight. However, that doesn't change the obvious fact that this team just doesn't work as currently assembled.

But you know what? I still believe! I still believe that even if the Sabres went 0-4 on the run-up to the trade deadline with losses to the Pens, Isles, Bruins and Rangers, Regier would nevertheless refuse to clean house. He still thinks the Sabres would be a dominant force if it weren't for a bad string of injuries, so that tells me he believes he's by and large got an effective roster.

So sue me for wanting four straight losses just to have some irrefutable proof.

To the extent the Sabres will be able to compete with the Bs and Rags, it's largely because they're now viewed as the team other clubs can take a breather against by starting backup goalies, if not altogether underestimating like the Bruins appeared to be guilty of a couple weeks ago. But in the mind of Regier, shellackings like the one the Sabres put on Pittsburgh over the weekend are almost certainly considered proof of the team's bad luck or signs that "the right personnel are in place," rather than anomalies amidst a season of fantastic suckitude.

In reality, however, the Sabres' dismal record this year has been well-earned. There's no point rehashing everything that's been said myriad times on this blog already, but there are several key reasons for this team's complete implosion that can't be ignored.

1) Ryan Miller has had a horrible season. If he was hampered by a concussion, it's the coach's job to realize this and shelve him while turning to the backup; failing that option, it's the GM's job to trade for a capable starter in the interim. On the other hand, if his performance wasn't injury-related, the organization really needs to re-evaluate whether it needs to spend $6 million on average goaltending.

2) Besides Vanek and Pominville, the Sabres' expensive forwards have had campaigns that wouldn't earn them $1 million/year if they were three years younger. This is in large part due to the fact that Regier failed over the summer to address the team's most glaring need: a No. 1 center.

3) Despite the presence of Robyn Regehr and Zack Kassian, the team as a whole is no more physical or tenacious than it has been the previous five seasons.

4) And for the love of christ, how long does a team have to slack off before deciding to take their craft seriously and put in a full effort most nights? The fact that the Sabres have had to rely on late-season pushes for two years in a row to even have a shot at the playoffs illustrates Ruff's ineptitude or ineffectiveness when it comes to preparing his team for battle every night.

The Buffalo Sabres would have you believe that winning is difficult. Sometimes it is, but it sure as hell shouldn't be when you spend to the cap. So that means that at least one of your characters comprising the longest-tenured dynamic duo in the history of professional sports needs to be canned. In other words, either Ruff is failing to get enough out of his high-priced commodities, or Regier is spending too much on his players in the first place or simply mismanaging his resources. Or, of course, both.

None of this is meant to imply that Ruff and Regier have easy jobs. Everything is crystal clear in hindsight, and everyone knows an expensive payroll doesn't guarantee championships, if at minimum because some players have been known to coast once they've hit their paydays. After all, you can't fault Darcy for failing to predict that Brad Boyes would be the bust he turned out to be. Almost everyone thought that was a good pickup last season.

I can also support Regier's acquisition of Ville Leino ($4.5MM cap hit) and contract extension for Tyler Myers ($5.5MM cap hit next season). Even though Leino's performance this year would make a $3 million cap hit look like an embarrassment, he's not playing with a Danny Briere or Mike Richards, either. Sometimes if you want certain players, you just have to go out and get them. If Leino and his potential are keys to your future plans, it's better to pay him $1.5 million more than he's worth than not to have him at all, especially if someone else is going to throw him the money if you don't. Likewise for Myers. There's no way on earth his performance to date has earned him his forthcoming fortune, but it's crazy to think other teams wouldn't give a 6-8 kid with his shot, wheels, and minutes the same type of coin. Remember, we've all crucified Darcy in the past for letting our best players go because he refused to cave over an extra million bucks.

Even if Regier assumes the Sabres will squeak into the playoffs if he keeps the team intact, the question he needs to be asking himself is: at what cost? At the cost of scooping up valuable draft picks by unloading UFAs? At the expense of dumping payroll to give the franchise the flexibility to go get that No. 1 center? Of being able to send a message that poor performance won't be tolerated?

Okay, forget that last one. I realize Regier isn't exactly known for demanding success. But just keep in mind that back on Dec. 2 when the Sabres were flat-out humiliated by the Red Wings, they were down a few key guys but they had yet to incur all the injuries they faced by the time they got worked by the Pens two weeks later. The fundamental difference between the Red Wings and Sabres that night was that Detroit dismantled Buffalo with ease. So what if they would've actually had to try a little harder had the Sabres had their full roster that night? The point is, the Sabres aren't close to competing for a Cup, so now's the time to cut bait and rebuild the team into a winner.

The blatant irony surrounding all of this is that Darcy Regier is still at the controls, and I don't think he should be trusted to have his hands on the wheel; his fate shouldn't even have to come down to next Monday's performance at the deadline. However, if at minimum Regier doesn't open up at least $10 million in cap space next week (or at the very least send the equivalent amount of salary out the door prior to taking on the cost of any acquisitions), he should be fired by Tuesday morning.

February 18, 2012

Give the Sabres credit for one thing. They're still willing to talk to the media following the unending questions about their poor performance.

Other than that, there's not much more you can say.

With the trade deadline only nine days away, there's only one way to tell if Darcy Regier is completely incompetent or not. They have to lose their next four games prior to February 27. That shouldn't be too tall an order with the Pens, Bruins, and Rangers on tap during that span, but not much surprises me anymore.

Thankfully we don't have to listen to any more delusional comments like "we still believe" now that this team has fallen to last place in the East; yes, it seems they finally realize they're toast. But players are supposed to be overly optimistic in the media; GMs have to be honest, even if only with themselves.

So as long as the Sabres pick up no more than two points over their next four games, there will be no comprehensible way for anyone to argue that this team should remain intact.

If we're lucky enough to get to the deadline with that much certainty, we'll have all we need to know about Darcy Regier, once and for all, by the 28th.

Looks like the perfect opportunity to make some moves...again. But don't worry, I'm sure even more patience will be displayed by ownership, management, etc.

I haven't watched, read, listened to, or have done anything else Sabres since the day of the last Rangers/Sabres game. The hard drive on my computer failed and it was in the shop until yesterday. At one point I actually started to miss the Sabres a little bit. Yeah, I was a little surprised by that too. But I got over it fast.

Living in Texas, I actually got to see them play the Stars Friday. From what I remember (I was pretty drunkskie) it wasn't much of a game. Plus, the broadcast was so terrible on Dallas' end, it was almost unwatchable. The pre-game show and intermission reports looked like they were filmed in my parents basement with a home video recorder from the 1980's, and during the game they didn't even include a countdown clock during power plays. When it was all said and done, shitty hockey and poor broadcasting ruined the game and made it pretty unwatchable (at least the play by play guy was better than Kevin Sylvester). That isn't my point though.

All I'm trying to say is that once again I have absolutely no confidence in this team moving forward. My original thought was that we would be doomed for at least the next two years. Judging by the lack of action taken by...well, anybody up to this point, I'm fairly certain that I'll be right.

I can't believe how retarded this organization is. And the fans aren't much help either. There obviously isn't any pressure from any angle that makes these guys feel like getting up and trying to win a game once and a while. It's embarrassing for me. I feel that I've [wasted] a lot of time and money on this team, and if it turns out that winning isn't even something that really matters to them at the end of the day, I'll be the fool for keeping my belief in them for all these years.

Stop going to games; boo the shit out of them; sell all your tickets to Leaf fans; do something radical for Christ's sake!

It's great that Buffalo people are so supportive toward their city and teams, but it's time to get a little angry and demand that you're worth more than 2nd (or 27th) best.

There are no more excuses. The team is healthy, but still heartless. They have tuned out their coach and the GM doesn't know how to approach the trade deadline. Darcy was foolish enough to say publicly that he isn't sure if he'll be a buyer or seller at the deadline because he believes they may be in playoff contention by then. When asked if he had a list of players he may want to go after in the case of him being a buyer, he couldn't produce one name that he'd rather have than Brad Boyes. That's no shit.

I've always believed that Darcy was a shitty GM. I never actually realized he had no fucking clue at all.

I'm losing interest fast. I love the Sabres but I'm not going to waste my time following them when they don't even have an idea about anything. What's the point? In the short existence of this blog, we've given 10x the amount of evidence someone like Mario Lemieux would need to fire his GM.

But no, the Sabres will just stick with the status quo forever. We'll keep Lindy and Darcy around year after year so they can fail many more times than they have already. We'll keep overpaying worthless cry babies to not show up for games. We won't trade anyone because we're all such good friends.

That's what this team has become to me. Give me a reason to think anything different.

January 26, 2012

Since we've got a week of no real hockey due to the all-star break, I thought this would be a good time to issue a challenge to my fellow Swordplay bloggers. Congratulations, Erik and Jon, you've been selected as finalists for the (never-vacant-but-hey-a-guy-can-dream) position of general manager of the Buffalo Sabres.

Your task is to draft the roster you intend to put on the ice on opening day 2012-13. Since we don't know what next year's salary cap will be, just use this year's cap as the salary limit. The goal here is not to develop your "dream roster" -- i.e., no all-star teams -- but to build a team realistically. To accurately assess the worth of your current Buffalo Sabres. To determine who goes and who stays in your quest to balance grit, skill, and leadership.

In other words, you need to walk into your interview with Terry Pegula and Ted Black with plans for a winner or this meeting will be over in three minutes.

If you know this team as well as you think you do, it's time to put Terry's money where your mouth is.

Finally, Terry and Ted are going to ask for your top three coaching candidates because they've finally realized this team needs a fresh set of eyes from behind the bench too.

January 23, 2012

A current 12-game road losing streak + a 3-10-2 record in their last fifteen + failure to win back to back games since November 11th + the all-star break staring you in the face + the trade deadline less than five weeks away = The perfect time to fire your coach and general manager

Unfortunately this is all hypothetical. If Pegula was set on making a change, one would think it would have happened long before now. Instead, he decided it would be a better option to preach patience and lean heavily on the injury excuse.

Overall, we're stuck with the decisions he's made (or failed to make) up until this point, but according to my simple math problem, now is as good a time as ever to move forward and change the culture of this franchise.

It's taken some of us more time than others, but the consensus now seems to be simply, "Fire Ruff and Regier."

So assuming a firing could actually occur, this is my logic:

The all-star break will give the Sabres an entire week off. A week that could be used to clean up a mess that was once a slow simmer, but has recently compiled into a rolling boil. We have witnessed a full collapse, it's not going to get any better without some kind of action.

This is ideal. This week off could give a new GM the time he needs to settle in and assess his new team (and coach) fairly. After a couple weeks of evaluation, the trade deadline will be upon us. Presuming the Sabres will be sellers, it would give this new GM an opportunity to immediately start building this team for the future.

Forget about acquiring players in trades. As much as I hate to say it, this season is beyond salvageable, so the new GM should be going after draft picks and prospects. The Sabres are well on their way to getting a top 5 draft pick already, bulking up with more picks wouldn't hurt at all. Plus, trading for picks would jump start the next important move: dumping salary.

The overpaid talent on this team needs to go; preferably by trade. I know Regier hasn't been able to make any (Brian Burke's comments on Darcy have spread like wildfire in recent weeks, they're obviously valid), maybe a new guy can. If not, waiving is the only option. As we look forward to another year of free agency, cap space is a necessity. Let's not forget that Tyler Myers will be making a lot more money next year, too.

A fresh face in the GM chair would be able to judge Lindy's performance accurately as well. He would be able to point out his shortcomings without a friendship getting in the way. He would be able to see how much his coach's soft attitude has negatively affected his team. He would be able to pull the trigger on him, a thing Regier isn't capable of.

***

What are the odds of this happening? I'm afraid to answer that. We'll know in two days whether or not this is just another one of my fantasies.

If I'm wrong (which I probably am), we'll get a real good look at where ownership stands by deadline day. If Pegula trusts Regier enough to make trade deadline moves, we'll have our answer to who will be the Sabres GM next year too.

Honestly, I don't know if I can make it through another season of this much frustration and despair.

January 17, 2012

I've never really been the type of person to take pleasure in other people's misfortune, but when people seemingly insist on visiting despair upon themselves, it's hard not to laugh.

Or to root them on, for that matter.

As recent events have illustrated, the Buffalo Sabres have not only failed -- and failed spectactularly -- to live up to self-imposed expectations, ownership has also made it clear that there will be no attempt to salvage the season (or to get a jump on improving prior to the summer) by doing anything but adhering to the status quo.

I think Erik might have been a bit too harsh on new Sabres owner Terry Pegula yesterday, but let's not confuse harsh with offbase. The Sabres are indeed the softest team in hockey, a culture that has been instilled by management and reflected by most of its players over the years.

In fact, if I read one more article about Ryan Miller's lip quivering during a post-game interview, I swear I'm going to burn every last one of my fucking Sabres hats. To quote Phil Wenneck, pull yourself together, bro.

Here's where we are: When the face of your franchise is a basketcase, you're pretty much screwed.

Erik commented last night that it's "rather fun" to watch Miller's career unravel before our eyes. I don't share this sentiment. Interesting? Surreal? Yes. Fun? No. I don't want the Sabres to suck (Well, suck enough for the rest of the year to get the first pick in the draft? Sure.) I don't take any pleasure in watching an individual's career go down the drain, especially if he's on my team.

However, what I do enjoy watching is insanity in action. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. This is Darcy Regier in a nutshell. So while I may not get much satisfaction watching a player battle psychological issues that could be out of his control, I can't say the same for a GM who has every opportunity to objectively evaluate his team yet chooses to adhere to fantasy as a strategy for success.

Ryan Miller has always been somewhat of a headcase, but I believe he now realizes that every player in the league can beat him over his glove shoulder. He can do nothing about it. He is done.

Let me repeat that: Ryan Miller is done. I take no pride in writing that. He still gets the last laugh because he's a multi-millionaire, but just because an owner, GM, and coach think you can live up to your contract doesn't mean you can. Failing to both realize and act on this now will only further delay the Sabres' reversal of this downward spiral.

The problem is not injuries (you don't see Philly bitching about the loss of Chris Pronger for the season). I hope Mr. Pegula knows this. I hope he was just trying to provide some positive reinforcement while he figures out how to right this ship when he chalked up his team's horrendous play to bad luck. Because if he truly buys the injury excuse -- and let's face it, he seemed pretty convinced last week -- he's going to sell this team well before he wins a Cup.

Terry, this is what complete disarray looks like.

Complete disarray metastasizes itself in things like pathetic excuses when you can't pinpoint tangible reasons for failure. It's just like chemistry, which the Sabres continually say they need to develop in order to find success. But "chemistry" is the word you use when you can't find any rational, tangible explanation for why things work so well.

Just as things often work out unexpectedly and with seemingly little effort, sometimes nothing works no matter what you do.

I may not know much, but one thing I do know is that guys like Derek Roy, Drew Stafford, Ville Leino, Nathan Gerbe, and Tyler Ennis do not suck; they're in a pretty exclusive fraternity for a reason. But despite all the denial by Sabres brass, the combination of players they've assembled just isn't working.

Yes, your guess is as good as mine.

But the job of a GM is to, at minimum, be able to identify this. I've never thought much of Lindy Ruff as a coach, but this poor schmuck just looks lost behind the bench. He has the look of a guy who knows he's lost his team and, if nothing else, he needs to be fired for his own sake (in addition to my own).

In the meantime, the Sabres find themselves mired in a dreadful seven-game roadtrip. Any sober fan knew the Detroit game was over before it started last night; it was only a matter of by how much. The same goes for tomorrow night in Chicago. The word "dismantled" comes to mind. I don't see Buffalo winning more than one game on this roadie -- hell, they've already dropped the first two -- but the only thing that could potentially improve their odds is for Enroth to get the starts from now on until he loses two in a row.

Like it or not, the future is either Enroth or someone else. The options going forward for Miller are 1) buyout or 2) AHL. He is currently untradeable -- who'd give up property and take on that contract? -- and I doubt he'd even be picked up on waivers. He is the definition of sunk cost, and even I don't think Regier is dumb enough to keep him around given his cap hit. (Of course, Regier ideally wouldn't be around to have this decision on his hands.)

There's really no succinct explanation for the state of the Buffalo Sabres -- they've worked hard to create this mess over many years -- but if there's one thing that needs to end it's the incestuousness that defines this team. From the cozy, unhealthy relationship that is Regier/Ruff to the famed "core" that has spent more time together than most married couples, it's just time for a divorce.

And yes, until Terry Pegula and Co. realize this, I'll be reveling in the ignorance and naivete that currently define them.

To paraphrase Phil Wenneck, You actually gonna ride this or are you guys just fuckin' with me?

January 16, 2012

Well everybody, it seems we aren't so lucky after all. When Terry Pegula took over this team, we all felt for some reason that things would be a little different than how they've transpired. He displayed an emotion and drive to make this team a success, "multiple Stanley Cups" was his promise.

Less than a year later, I can honestly say I'm less than thrilled when it comes to the future of this franchise. I can no longer remain optimistic. Pegula employs a team of coaches and executives that insist on selling injuries, and he's making sure he's the first in line to buy their product. Showing that he has no immediate doubt in their capabilities.

All Pegula is doing is exacerbating a soft culture that existed before he took ownership.

Last year, the Sabres went on a remarkable run to make the playoffs. In the midst of all of this, Pegula took over ownership of the team. Before that point, Buffalo reflected a season almost identical to what we're seeing today. What followed? A team fighting for their lives in order to just make it to the playoffs.

I hear some fans dialing up that old flame for this season: We just need a good second half, you saw what they did last year, right?

I did see what they did last year, but I don't think we can expect much of the same for this one.

Terry was new then, everyone was unfamiliar with him -- probably even a little fearful. Fear is an owner's most valuable weapon.

Look at George Steinbrenner for example. This guy chose to be in the spotlight, demanding success and even calling out his players publicly if he felt it was necessary. Many looked at Steinbrenner as a radical, criticizing him on multiple accounts relating to his handling of situations. I mean, how could you blame him considering the kind of money he was shelling out for some of those guys? What did he get out of it in the end? Almost two handfuls of World Series Championship rings. You can criticize him all you want; you can't say it never worked.

In these most recent times of professional athletics, there aren't many negative things you can do to these guys. Aside from the luxurious travel and dining they experience from day to day, the most important factor (in the NHL especially) is that their contracts are guaranteed. An owner does not have the power to take away the salary of his players. Whether they perform or not, they still get paid.

I'm not trying to turn this post into a discussion about collective bargaining or labor, that would be a waste of time.

A message still needs to be sent somehow though. If Stafford's physical game is more representative of a ballerina than that of an NHL power forward (which is technically what he's supposed to be), or Roy continues to skate as if his tampon seems to be slightly ajar, actions need to be taken to get it through their heads that what they're doing is unacceptable.

If the players aren't going to do it themselves, the coach needs to hold them all accountable. If (or more like, when) he sees guys taking shifts off, bench them. If you don't want to make it entirely individual, maybe punish the entire team for it. I'm pretty sure there isn't anyone on the team that wants to be put through longer, more excruciating practices. Shit, the players' relationships toward each other might end up changing as well: as I believe Matt Ellis and Robyn Regehr would start to take great exception to the slacker attitude of others if it ended up affecting them.

But we shouldn't expect anything to change for the better, as Pegula apparently has just as much of a callow outlook on hockey as Ruff.

As Jerry Sullivan pointed out in his article this morning, Pegula was stunningly "naive and defensive" when it came to criticism, speaking of a meeting the Buffalo News editorial board had with Pegula back in February. Terry also said, "his daughter, a pro tennis player, would quit playing tennis if she was subjected to the sort of criticism [the media] leveled at the Sabres."

So that's what we're dealing with folks, the perfect fit to this soft/bitch of a hockey team: an equally soft/bitch of an owner.

A man, who apparently spends more time wondering how he will coddle the next player that has a bad day/injury, rather than working to fix the obvious problems staring him right in the fucking face. He doesn't get it, and contrary to my initial belief, I now have no idea if he ever will.

I'm actually starting to kick myself in the ass for not developing a liking to the Penguins after years of living in the Burgh. I was reading some articles on nhl.com about their recent struggles with injury and I find myself even more jealous of them as a franchise. I wish Pegula was more like Pens GM Ray Shero when he said, "We're making the playoffs, put it that way" and "Anything less is unacceptable... Just making the playoffs is never our goal."

Even Penguins coach Dan Bylsma refuses to blame injuries for their losing streak before this weekend, saying "At some point you understand there are going to be injuries and you move on and you get ready to play next game the way we need to play."

What else would you expect the troops of the great Mario Lemieux to say? Do you think that he would keep a GM or coach employed if they came to him with the same bullshit excuses that the Sabres like to reference? I'm sure he would retaliate with something along the lines of, "Fuck you bitches, I played with cancer!"

It all starts at the top, and unfortunately for us, our leader is lacking in the leadership department. If he refuses to change his point of view, it's sad to say that we will all be doomed for years to come. So we might just be better off just doing what Trevor said, start auditioning other NHL teams to play the role as the Sabres' successor.

Sorry for the rude remarks Terry, but you have to get it through your head. Ruff and Regier's time needs to be halted. You have enough money to turn this franchise into the Yankees of hockey, but you'll never reach that objective without employing the proper personnel.

Maybe you'll start to realize what needs to be done once the usually great season ticket renewal rate plummets next season; when it starts to take a toll on your pocket. But then again, maybe you won't. From what I've read, the majority of your fan base has a better idea in regards to what's going on than you do.

January 13, 2012

Well, we finally have the answer to why Lindy Ruff has relied so heavily upon injuries when trying to explain the Sabres' limpdick performance over the past two months, and it's coming straight from the top. As a Buffalo News article explains this morning, owner Terry Pegula has no plans to make any changes to his team because they've simply been overcome by bad luck.

"What everybody is missing is that I've been carrying around 167 man games," he said by telephone Thursday evening. "Forget about the season. I'm talking about the last 25 games. We've had 18 players go down. It's like a merry-go-round every night. You look on the ice and what are your defensive pairs tonight? Hell, who knows? Who's healthy?

"I think what's important is the number of guys. You can have 167 man games with four, five, six guys out for a long period. Eighteen? Cut me a break. I told Darcy Regier one time, 'If I was you, I would be afraid to get on the plane.' "

In fact, Pegula pointed toward the injury bug for virtually all of the Sabres' troubles this season.

Hey, the guy can think what he wants. Unfortunately for him and for thousands of Sabres fans everywhere, however, he is severely misguided. Maybe I'm just delusional, but Buffalo was playing better with five AHL regulars in the lineup before Christmas than they have been the past few games with a pretty healthy lineup. As I explained just the other day, you can hardly argue that Ennis, Sekera, and Roy are significant losses, and even without Ehrhoff the D is still better than it was last season.

Remember when the return of Tyler Myers was going to be the turning point? Well, they haven't won in the three games since he's been back. Ville Leino? He has no points, much less any goals, since his return two games ago. Jhonas Enroth has had his struggles but he's still outperforming Ryan Miller, yet he nevertheless finds himself relegated to the bench. Maybe Ruff needs to talk to Peter Laviolette, who's benched his newly-acquired $5 million goalie since the Winter Classic in favor of his backup because he obviously realizes paychecks don't necessarily win games.

Terry Pegula is nothing if not a diehard Sabres fan like the rest of us, so it's a little bothersome that he seems unaware that excessive injuries always tend to define this team. No coach is guaranteed a healthy lineup, but it's the great ones that win without one. Yes, the Sabres endured a really rough patch for about two weeks, but even when they were calling up Derek Whitmore and T.J. Brennan, what should not be overlooked is that they were still some of the better players on the ice.

Instead of pissing and moaning about the injuries, Pegula and Co. should be grateful for what they have revealed: that Brayden McNabb is a gold mine, that Corey Tropp makes Pat Kaleta irrelevant, that T.J. Brennan is ready for primetime, and that Enroth is certainly no friggin' worse than their "star" goalie -- who, by the way, gave up two more softies Tuesday against the Leafs.

Injuries are not the reason Drew Stafford, Ville Leino, and Brad Boyes -- all healthy -- cannot score. (The News's John Vogl made a great point this week when he commented that at 12 goals and almost $13 million between them, their goals have cost a million bucks a pop!) Injuries can't explain why Lindy Ruff opts to bench Zack Kassian -- who has much-needed size and no less offensive upside than Nathan Gerbe or Jochen Hecht -- in favor of Matt Ellis, Cody McCormick, and Kaleta. Injuries can't explain why a forward corps costing over $33 million couldn't score even one goal in Toronto last game. They can't explain why the Sabres were the first team in history to fail to retaliate against a player that viciously ran their goalie. And they can't explain why Ryan Miller is closer to a buyout than another trophy.

But don't take my word for it. Here's what Joffrey Lupul had to say about Gerbe after their mini-tussle at the end of the Leafs game Tuesday night: "He had 58 other minutes to play hard all game, and he didn’t. So it’s always a thing that makes me laugh, when a guy doesn’t show up for the game and then, with two minutes left, tries to make something happen."

For the past month I've wondered what other teams must think when they play the Sabres, and I think Lupul has provided a microcosm of reality. You could argue he's just being a prick by making fun of the city and waterfront, and to a large extent that's probably true, but if you read deeper he's illustrating a pretty apparent disrespect for the organization itself.

Teams know the Sabres are soft. The mockery that makes it to the public eye is probably nothing close to what goes on in opposing teams' locker rooms. Even after the Lucic incident, all we got was a play fight from Gaustad during the teams' next meeting, a pretty hard-fought game, and then a return to business as usual: generally spiritless play lacking any sort of consistency and determination. I feel like a broken record. I've been saying the same shit since 2006-07, but ... oh, wait a second ... the personnel hasn't really changed much since then, has it?

So Pegula and the rest of his crew can delude themselves into thinking injuries are the problem here if they like, but it will get them nowhere. In short, they weren't nearly as big a deal as the inherent shortcomings they have revealed.

Amazingly, today Lindy actually acknowledged the obvious and admitted that they can't blame injuries now that only a couple guys are out. But check out this direct quote: "Right now, we're close [to healthy] enough to win games." This is no shit. This is a head coach in the NHL, folks. A coach who flat-out admits that he, at minimum, implicitly communicated to his team that failure was either acceptable or unavoidable (or both) during the injury run. And this is a guy Terry Pegula defends.

So much for all those championships.

I truly hope this team stays healthy for the next couple weeks because I can't wait to see how these guys perform over the next half-dozen games, which include opponents like the Red Wings, Blackhawks, Blues, and Devils. I leave you with one thought: Prepare to be underwhelmed.

January 10, 2012

A little while back, I remember hoping that Jhonas Enroth would turn out being the diamond in the rough I thought he could be. Praying that if he would put up great (or even good enough) numbers, Darcy would find himself in an unavoidable pickle: having to choose between the "franchise" goaltender and the younger, less expensive one.

I'm never going to claim that I'm smart or savvy enough to make it in the big leagues as a general manager (I'll save that for my brother), but if you look back at that post, I sounded pretty qualified for the job on that day (assuming things stay how they are currently, of course).

I'll be completely truthful: I in no way ever thought we would see the demise of Ryan Miller build up to this kind of magnitude. I've always been more of the "he's not that great" type of person, but even this surprises me.

Back when I lived in Pittsburgh, I'd get into conversations with strangers about hockey all the time -- after all, I was a bartender. The most common thing a typical Pittsburgh hockey fan would say to me after finding out I was a Sabres fan was, "sorry." Sorry? Fuck off, I would think to myself. It always pissed me off that someone would lead off a conversation with something as ignorant as that, doubting another man's fandom because of a lack of championship rings.

The warm sensation of anger usually wore off pretty quickly though. Looking back, most Pittsburghers I've ever met were ultimately some of the best people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. Those people love their sports, and I would sometimes find the ribbing a little annoying, but most of the time they didn't mean any ill will by it.

But let's get back to the whole "ignorance thing." So after the hate was gone and I realized that whoever I was talking to wasn't Satan, we would get back to a normal conversation. The second thing that would come out of these people's mouths more often than not was, "You guys got a hell of a goaltender though." That's what always puzzled me. Pittsburghers are always so caught up in their own teams, how the hell would they know how good Ryan Miller is?

I just started telling myself that they were all fucking crazy. Like I said, I was never a fan of the guy and I had my reasons. So I would let them know it. In turn, they probably thought I was fucking crazy too.

Hopefully, we can all now finally agree that Ryan Miller is worthless, right? I'm sure there are a few people left on the Miller bandwagon, but from what I hear and read, his popularity is wearing thin from just about every angle. Trust me, I'm not happy about this. As much as I would love to say "I told you so" sometimes, turns out I'm not that much of a selfish prick. It's all about the team, and this team is now left with a goalie who is severely underperforming, and whose cap hit is over $6 million dollars.

Regier has already botched the possibility of trading Miller at the point where he held any substantial value, so I wouldn't be surprised if he refused to waive him also (assuming the option would even cross Darcy's mind). It seems unlikely that anyone would actually pick Miller up even if he were waived given his cap hit and poor performance, but that point is moot.

However, the Sabres need an overhaul. More importantly, they need to free up some cap space in order to complete this overhaul. And Miller has to be one of the primary targets. (Again, assuming this crazy idea of an overhaul would even be an option for Regier.)

Think about it, Tyler Myers's big boy contract goes into effect next season: a brand spanking new $5.5 million cap hit. Do you really want to carry around both of those contracts? Especially when one of them isn't being properly earned? I know that Hecht's, Boyes's and Gaustad's contracts end after this season (freeing up about $10 million), but that still leaves very little negotiating money for free agency.

So what's wrong with Jhonas Enroth as our starter? Why has he been so overlooked this season? It's obvious that he's not the next Dominik Hasek (at least not yet, who knows?), but on the other hand, the criticism he has gotten this season has been completely unwarranted -- as if the media are trying to stave off the embarrassment of their 6-year man-crush.

Just the other night, I heard Brian Koziol from the WGR 550 post-game show say, "We still have two mediocre goaltenders," or something like that. I'm not worried about getting the exact quote correct, it was a stupid one in the first place.

I'll admit it, he had two terrible games this season: one against the Coyotes, one against the Rangers. Both, if you ask me, were excusable losses. Well, as excusable as a loss can get. The loss to the Coyotes came less than 20 hours after he shutout the Hurricanes in Carolina, where he was bombarded by 40+ shots after his team gave up on him. And the loss to the Rangers was just one of those games where nothing went his way, and the Rags were surging to the top of the conference at the time. Everyone has a game like that once in a while. Just ask Ryan Miller.

Every goalie needs a little help once in a while though. During the 9-game span where Enroth relieved Miller due to his concussion, the Sabres averaged 2.2 goals per game. But it was Enroth's poor play that led the Sabres to a 3-5-1 record in those 9 games, right? Well, Mr. Koziol seems to think so. That is an absolute joke.

Let's have a little fun and compare Miller's and Enroth's stats side by side.

Miller: GP: 24 W: 10 L: 11 OTL: 3 GAA: 3.05 SV%: .901

Enroth: GP: 20 W: 8 L: 7 OTL: 4 GAA: 2.46 SV%: .923

Note: Miller's 24 games played were all starts. Out of Enroth's 20 games played, 17 were starts. I don't think that makes too big of a difference when it comes to overall statistics, just figured I'd tell you anyway.

Honestly, judging by how poorly the offense has performed all season, you can't take into consideration either player's win/loss record. So I won't actually bang up Miller for having a below .500 win percentage. But outside of that, there's no comparison.

Now I don't like to get into numbers too much, but they usually tell a pretty factual story. Especially in the realm of GAA and SV%. The separation between these two in those categories are fairly dramatic. So dramatic, that Enroth will have to start playing extremely bad, and Miller will to have to start playing extremely well for their numbers to get anywhere close to each other before the season ends.

Either way, the numbers Enroth has now are technically worthy of winning a Stanley Cup someday: See Marc-Andre Fleury.

The Sabres seem very desperate to make a move though (duh, completely understandable). I know Darcy was just quoted saying "no trades are imminent," but I don't believe that means he's necessarily stopped trying. The problem is, no one wants to pick up any big contracts for underperforming players.

I'm no GM, but I'm not stupid either. All of these GMs know how good Jhonas Enroth is (or could be someday)... I mean, if I know it, so do they. This is where I start to worry: In order to get any substantial return in a trade, I fear that these teams may want Jhonas Enroth to be packaged into the deal as a pot sweetener.

If this is the case, and Darcy Regier hasn't pulled the trigger because of it: good, I'll give him credit for at least doing something right. It still doesn't excuse him from the trainwreck he's created up until know though.

The obvious wish most of us have is for Darcy to magically turn into a GM that stops undervaluing his young talent and stops overvaluing his veteran talent. Will he ever turn into that? That's anyone's guess. I'm going to assume that he won't. Hopefully that will cost him his job one day, but I'll also assume that would be anyone's guess also (since it hasn't happened yet, of course).

But I've gone down that road way too many times (just click on Darcy Regier on our categories list, his desired firing is the topic of most), I don't really want to turn this post into another Darcy bashing one.

Whether it's Darcy or somebody else at the helm next year, I just hope they realize that not every winning team's success boils down to whether they possess a goaltender of elite status or not. Capable goalies with small price tags can be key ingredients to a championship recipe too.

So, maybe Jhonas Enroth's face doesn't belong on a $1 bill as of yet (maybe a fiver -- inside joke), but his great attitude, low cap hit, and most importantly, his exemplary play despite being stuck on a dog shit team, should solidify a future for him in Buffalo. If not, I just hope to not see him cleaning up for someone else in the future.

January 09, 2012

Well, technically they're 0-1-1 but whatever. Looks like the team is going to have to find yet another panacea du jour for getting back to the win column, because anyone with an IQ above room temperature knows the Sabres' injuries have played a very minimal role in their lackluster performance of late.

Obviously injuries aren't irrelevant, but what's pissed off Sabres fans the most over the past month or so is twofold: 1) the club's propensity to place more emphasis on making excuses for losses than on finding ways to win, and 2) the front office's insistence upon pussyfooting around with a GM/head coach tandem that has overstayed its welcome while yet another (potentially salvageable) season washes down the drain.

As I've mentioned several times before, injuries are not the problem. No one wants to be without guys like Tyler Myers and Christian Ehrhoff, but players get hurt; good teams can accommodate short-term injuries.

Take a look at the D right now. The Sabres are absent Christian Ehrhoff and Andrej Sekera. If you plan to argue that Sekera is any sort of significant loss whatsoever, please pass the hooka now because I need some of what you're having. And Ehrhoff wasn't even on the team last year yet it found a way to make the playoffs without him.

So this year -- right now, even without Ehrhoff -- the Sabres' defensive corps has Myers, Leopold, and Weber -- all holdovers from last season -- only they've exchanged guys like Morrisonn, Butler, Montador, and Rivet for Regehr, McNabb, and Gragnani.

Would anyone out there actually take last year's lineup over the one that will take the ice tomorrow night against Toronto, even absent Ehrhoff and Sekera for now? I sure as hell wouldn't.

Injuries are not the problem. Hell, most Sabres fans would tell you that the reason the team got it together last year was because Derek Roy missed most of the season. If that's the case, what's the excuse now? That underachiever Tyler Ennis is still out? Please.

When Lindy Ruff has the luxury of making Zack Kassian a healthy scratch -- which, if you ask me, is just plain stupid -- you can't really bitch about injuries. I love Matt Ellis. Would that even half the team had his fucking heart. But the guy looks like a cat in a bathtub when he stickhandles, and you play him over Kassian? If anything, maybe try playing him in addition to Kassian and benching any forward not named Vanek or Pominville for a game or two. Gee, there's a thought.

Injuries are not the problem. However, Ryan Miller sucks. The forwards making $4 million a year couldn't hit a 25-cent whore with a roll of quarters in their pocket, much less the back of a net. Lindy Ruff allows/encourages soft play and from what I can tell has essentially lost his team. Blah, blah, blah.

So what cosmic events have conspired to cause this perfect storm of shittiness? Who knows? Probably a lot of things, and most likely many intangible ones at that. I've never been the kind of person to advocate change simply for the sake of changing, but you can't fix intangibles without changing the tangibles. It's already 2012. They're long overdue.

There's a reason a team with the third-highest payroll in the league can't win. There's a reason it doesn't retaliate against a team that runs its goaltender. There's a reason it refuses to lay bodychecks on an equally weak team that's obviously travel weary.

There's always a reason for everything. I'd love to get paid to figure it out if the Sabres would like to give me a shot. After all, I'd love the job security.